We are only one episode away from the end season 6 of The Walking Dead and I am sure many of you are as invested as I am. In my opinion, this season has honestly been one of the best of the entire series. I don’t make a claim like this lightly because I know that is a bold statement and people may not agree. Of course, as always, if you aren’t caught up and haven’t seen episode 15 yet, don’t keep reading unless you enjoy spoilers.

First and foremost I think one of the reasons that this season is the best of the series is because of the journey that our favorite characters have made to get to where they are now. Yes, there were many epic moments in previous seasons that led to each character struggling to make peace with the acts they carry out in order to survive in this post-apocalyptic mess. However this season alone has blurred the lines of right and wrong more than any other season and I think that this shift is incredibly compelling.

For the first time in a very long time, the viewer is starting to look at Rick Grimes’s character in a new light. We have seen Rick on the edge of insanity and back again, but Robert Kirkman has intentionally used the conflict with the saviors to show that there is more grey area than even Rick would like to admit. The comparison has been made between Rick and the Governor before, but never in such a light that makes you question Rick’s moral compass, maybe even your own.

Of course one of the best things about TWD is the ability for you to sit back from the safety of your own couch and imagine what you would do under the circumstances the characters are faced with. At least that’s what I do when I watch the show. Aside from the ridiculously inappropriate things I would do to Daryl Dixon (wink wink Norman Reedus), I feel like if I was in the group my morals would lead me to the same general path that they are on now.

However for the first time in a very long time, I feel like Kirkman has made a shift in how Rick is being perceived. We don’t know if Rick is the bad guy or not and we don’t know how big of a mistake it was to run in, guns ablaze, to the savior hide out without doing any research first. It almost seems like more of a “Shane” reaction than a Rick reaction.

In the early seasons of TWD, for better or worse, Rick was always hesitant to jump right into conflict. Some of you may feel that the only reason he has become this way is out of necessity, but I disagree. Yes after learning about the Saviors the group needed to do something, that is a given solution based on the circumstances. However one of the reasons that the herding zombie episode was even possible was because of the planning that went into thinking about every possible outcome first.

The group literally put more planning into where the crops will go than they did finding out about the camp they invaded and how the group operates. There are literally a million variables the group could have run into on this mission. However they were at an advantage because they weren’t even on the saviors radar (that we know of) and had the luxury of it not being a time sensitive issue. Yes they needed to get the hilltop member back but even one day of reconnaissance would have been helpful.

Even with my criticisms of Rick, I truly feel like this season has been better than any before it. The season premier was one of the best yet, even if some disliked the black and white cinematic effect. It was action packed and gave viewers a taste of the intensity that the new season had in store. Also Daryl and his rocket launcher are two of the most bad-ass things ever created.

I think with the introduction of this new society will come lots of twists and turns and we still have one more episode left in the season. Everyone who has read the comics is waiting for the most intense scene in the entire graphic novel collection to come to life where we lose one of our favorite characters in an epic display of power when we finally meet Neagan and Lucille.

However the finale goes down, I will be there waiting on the edge of my seat, like I have been for most of the season. Hopefully the last episode of season 6 lives up to the epic conclusion fans have been hoping for. Only time will tell.